Thursday, January 30, 2014
John 1:40-41 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).
LOOK ... LEARN ... SHARE (1)
As we look to Jesus, God's sinless Lamb, with eyes of faith, He comforts our hearts with the assurance that He bore our sins to the cross. As we spend time with Jesus, learning the truths of His Word, reflecting on their precious meaning, He provides guidance and strength for our lives as His disciples. Another special reason we love to look at Jesus: we know He will use His Word to give us ability to take His Gospel Good News and pass it along to others so they might rejoice in it too. (It's like a "ripple effect" Jesus makes happen.)
A good example of this is found in our text. After John the Baptist shared the Savior with his two disciples (John, son of Zebedee and Andrew), they went with Him to where He was staying and spent the day learning more about Him. Then they were moved to speak of Him to others. Andrew searched for Simon his brother to tell him about Jesus. (According to tradition Andrew carried the Gospel message all the way to Scotland.) John son of Zebedee wrote the Gospel from which our text is taken and four more Bible books. He spent his life sharing Jesus with others.
Jesus causes the same "ripple effect" to happen in the lives of believers today. As we look in faith to Him and His cross where He paid for our sins and His empty tomb where He gave us victory over death, He blesses us with the desire to share His Gospel with family, friends, and others near and far.
That's what mission work, at its core, is really all about: inviting folks to look at Jesus, God's Lamb, who came to take away our sin and bring us victory over death. What a joy to know that as we share this message ...
Nations afar, in ignorance deep,
Isles of the sea, where darkness lay,
These hear His voice, and wake from sleep,
And throng with joy the upward way.
They cry with us, "Send forth Thy light,
O Lamb, once slain for sinful men;
Burst Satan's bonds, O God of might;
Set all men free!" Amen, Amen.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 130:4)
